In which orchestra did the piccolo double bass appear, or, possibly, first appear?

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Request for Question Clarification by markj-ga on 09 Jan 2005 15:20 PST

itsalphaandome-ga

I recall you saying on another thread that one of your recent
questions is part of "a quiz."  Am I correct that this question is as
well? In other words, is there supposed to be a single correct answer?

I ask because I have lots of information about the relevant history of
the double bass from a very authoritative source with whom I have
corresponded by email. Based on this correspondence and my own
research, I could come up with an educated guess as to an early
occasion (though maybe not the very first) when an instrument
"officially" called a "piccolo bass" was used with a symphony
orchestra.

However, the word "piccolo" can also be used generically to describe
any instrument that is smaller than usual (and likely to be tuned
differently), and there are a few online sources that use the term
"piccolo double bass" to refer to basses of varying smaller sizes that
were occasionally used in classical music ensembles centuries ago.

Thus the answer to your question depends on what is meant by a
"piccolo double bass," and that doesn't sound like a plausible right
answer to a quiz question.

A little more information about the specificity you expect in an
answer would help me to know if I can be of help to you.

markj-ga

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Clarification of Question by itsalphaandome-ga on 10 Jan 2005 02:27 PST

Thanks Markj-ga...I suspect you're right - although it's a quiz
question, it lacks a single right answer that will snap into place. 
If you can let me have your best guess by 11am Greenwich Mean Time,
I'll accept it as an answer.

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Clarification of Question by itsalphaandome-ga on 10 Jan 2005 03:03 PST

Sorry Markj-ga, but I've cut it too fine - the quiz deadline arrived,
and I had to send off my guess.  I have to close the question.